Systematic identification of transcriptional activator domains from non-transcription factor proteins in plants and yeast.

Activation domains promote transcription and play a critical role in regulating gene expression. Although the mapping of activation domains from transcription factors has been carried out in previous genome-wide screens, their occurrence in non-transcription factors has been less explored. We utilize an activation domain predictor to mine the entire proteomes of and for new activation domains on non-transcription factor proteins. We validate peptides derived from >750 non-transcription factor proteins capable of activating transcription, discovering many potentially new coactivators in plants. Importantly, we identify novel genetic parts that can function across both species, representing unique synthetic biology tools.